Whatever doesn't kill you has a good beat

A few weeks ago I was scanning through radio stations in the car, as I often do, and came across a song I hadn't heard before.

What doesn't kill you makes you stronger
Stand a little taller
Doesn't mean I'm lonely when I'm alone
What doesn't kill you makes a fighter
Footsteps even lighter
Doesn't mean I'm over cause you're gone

I got a grin out of that. Such a poppy, breezy little song to feature a Nietzsche quote. And in an odd way, it made me feel better about one of our newer songs. An excerpt:

It's been a crowded day
There hasn't been much room to move
The constant interruptions
No way to get into a groove

The world is unrelenting
Everybody wants a piece of me
So I rock along
Clear out some of this debris

Got a good beat
Got a good beat
Got a good beat
And you can dance to it

I'd felt a little guilty about using a phrase I hadn't created myself for the refrain. Obviously, "It's got a good beat and you can dance to it" isn't original to me. But what the hell. If someone can steal from Nietzsche, why should I worry about lifting a line memed from American Bandstand?

* * *

A few days ago I stumbled on a teenager's blog. The blog's tagline began, "In the words of Kelly Clarkson "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger."

Heh heh heh ...

OK, I wouldn't have gotten the reference at age 15 either. Still, it hadn't occurred to me that anyone would think Clarkson said it first. It really should have.

To be honest, I hadn't known the origins of "It's got a good beat ..." until after I wrote "Dance to It." I'd heard it before, of course, somewhere, but Ron the Drummer had to tell me about the "Rate a Record" connection—"I liked it, Dick. It's got a good beat, and you can dance to it."

I hope I invent or inspire a saying that gets quoted so often, nobody remembers where it came from.

RIP, Dick Clark.